Destroyer JAGUAR departed
the Humber for Rosyth. On the 2nd, she was attacked by German
aircraft off Longstones, but was able to drive the attack
off without damage to herself, and arrived at Rosyth on
the 2nd.

______

After delivering Fleet
Tenders A and B (decoy ships
PAKEHA and WAIMANA) to Scapa
Flow on the 1st,
destroyer TARTAR departed Scapa
Flow again that day.

______

Destroyer KANDAHAR arrived
at the Clyde.

______

Destroyers FORTUNE and
PUNJABI, returning to the Clyde
after full calibre firings, investigated a submarine
reported seven miles
254° from Ailsa Craig. Steamer CLAN MACNAUGHTON (6088grt)
had
reported sighting a periscope.

Submarine THISTLE departed
Rosyth and performed
exercises in the Firth of Forth.

______

The Northern Patrol from 1
to 14 March sighted
52 eastbound merchant ships and sent into Kirkwall twelve for inspection. Four German merchant ships were encountered
and all four scuttled themselves to avoid capture. Armed
merchant cruisers
ASTURIAS and SCOTSTOUN arrived at the Clyde from Northern Patrol. Armed merchant cruisers WOLFE and DERBYSHIRE
departed the Clyde
on Northern Patrol. Air escort from Aldergrove was
supplied for DERBYSHIRE.

______

Sloop GRIMSBY was in a
collision with Italian steamer EDERA
(5254grt) while berthing in the Tyne, but sustained no damage.

______

Anti-submarine trawler ASTON
VILLA (546grt) was
damaged in a collision with RFA PETRONEL at Aberdeen.

______

Norwegian steamer VESTFOSS
(1388grt) was bombed and
sunk by aircraft of German KG26 (X Air Corps) twelve miles
east by south of Copinsay,
Orkney Islands. After an unsuccessful attempt to tow
VESTFOSS, British steamer STAR OF
LIBERTY (205grt) took off the 19 crew. Tug ST MELLONS had
been dispatched, but was recalled. Part of the crew from
VESTFOSS arrived
at Oslo on the 6th. (Note:
German X Air Corps flew He111's of KG26, Ju88's of KG30,
and two reconnaissance squadrons flying He59's or Do17's.)

______

Norwegian steamer BROTT
(1583grt) in convoy FS.109
was machine gunned and bombed by German aircraft off
Whitby, and the
crew abandoned ship. The steamer waited in Bridlington Bay
for tugs. Destroyer JUNO, escort vessel VEGA and sloop
STORK were escorting
the convoy, one of the escorts picking up a lifeboat from
BROTT.

______

Convoy MT.21 departed Methil
for the Tyne. In convoy MT.20, Latvian steamers ELIZABETE (2039grt) was damaged by German bombers
five miles east by south of Hartlepool Light Vessel and
KATVALDIS (3208grt)
off Scarborough, in 54-20N, 00-20W. KATVALDIS was struck
by two bombs, one of which did not
explode. The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 2nd.

______

Steamer
DOMALA (8450grt) ran aground three
cables east of Goodwin Knoll Buoy. Downs Guard Vessel
GOODWIN, minesweeping
trawler CALVI and a tug from Ramsgate stood by until she
refloated
herself without assistance at 1600.

______

Convoy OG.20 was formed from
two convoys - (1) OA.100G, which
departed Southend on 28 February, escorted by sloop
BIDEFORD from 28 February
to 2 March and destroyer WILD SWAN from 29 February to 3
March, and (2) OB.100G, which departed Liverpool escorted
by by sloop LEITH from 1 to 3 March and destroyer VENETIA
from 1 to 2 March, with 31 ships. Both
Liverpool escorts were detached to convoy HG.20. French
destroyer TIGRE and escort vessel VIKINGS joined the
convoy from 2
to 7 March. Destroyer ACTIVE joined on the 6th, and the
convoy arrived
at Gibraltar on the 7th.

______

U.20 sank Italian steamer MIRELLA
(5340grt) in 52‑24N,
02‑02E; one crewman was lost. The survivors were
rescued by destroyer WALLACE and anti-submarine trawler
CAPE ARGONA (494grt). Patrol sloops SHEARWATER and MALLARD were patrolling nearby
and were joined by sloops WIDGEON and SHELDRAKE to search
for the submarine.

______

Convoy HG.21F departed
Gibraltar with 36 ships. French destroyer CHACAL and
auxiliary patrol vessel CAPITAINE ARMANDE escorted from 1
to 6 and
7 March, respectively. Destroyers WHIRLWIND from convoy
OG.21F and WITCH
escorted the convoy from 7 to 10 March, when it arrived at
Liverpool.

______

Destroyer BULLDOG and
Australian destroyer WATERHEN
arrived at Gibraltar.

______

Heavy cruiser SUSSEX
departed Colombo 1 March to return to Home Waters. She
reached Malta on the 10th, departed on the 12th,
passed Gibraltar on the 14th, and arrived at Liverpool on
the 17th. There she began a refit that continued until
18 May when she joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron operating
with the Home
Fleet.

______

Steamer
SOUTHGATE (4862grt) reported being under attack by a
U-boat
150 miles northeast of San Juan
in 19‑58N, 64‑00W. American destroyers of the 31st
Destroyer
Squadron, MACLEISH (DD.220, Flagship Commander Destroyer
Squadron 31, Captain
W.W. Bradley) and SATTERLEE (DD.190) and MASON (DD.191) of
the 68th Destroyer
Division were dispatched to assist. However, the submarine
was not located
and SOUTHGATE was not damaged. U.S. Coast Guard cutter
UNALGA
also searched in the area for the reported submarine. The
U-boat, in reality,
was one of the four French submarines based on Martinique.

______

During the night of 29
February/1 March, light
cruiser DESPATCH
off Aruba in the Caribbean
intercepted German steamer TROJA (2390grt) shortly
after the German ship had put
to sea. Rather than be captured, TROJA scuttled herself.

______

Gunboats APHIS and LADYBIRD
left Singapore escorted by light cruiser DAUNTLESS
for Penang where they arrived on the 2nd. They departed on the 3rd, and arrived
at the Nicobar
Islands for refuelling. There, DAUNTLESS was relieved by
Australian light cruiser HOBART
which took them to Colombo. DAUNTLESS arrived back at
Penang on the 8th. The gunboats departed Colombo on the 11th without
an escort, and
proceeded to Bombay, joined an RFA tanker and proceeded
with
her to Masirah. At Masirah, they refuelled from the tanker
and carried on to Aden, arriving on the 27th, followed by
calls at Port Sudan, Suez, Port Said. They arrived at
Alexandria on 4 April.

French heavy cruiser SUFFREN
arrived at Singapore for docking, and was undocked on the
7th.

Saturday,
2 March

Destroyers KELLY and SIKH
arrived at Greenock from Scapa Flow.

______

Destroyer KHARTOUM arrived
at Greenock from Scapa Flow.

______

Battleship VALIANT,
battlecruiser HOOD
(Whitworth), and destroyers KELLY (D.5), SIKH and KANDAHAR
departed Greenock at 1600,
and destroyers FAULKNOR (D.8), FORESTER, FAME departed the
Clyde to patrol and cover the progress of the ON/HN convoys at sea. At
1133/3rd off North
Minch, FORESTER made a submarine contact in
58-27N, 5-46W and attacked it without result. FORESTER and
FAME made further attacks at 1240, 1320, 1423, 1500 in
the same area. FORESTER remained at the contact for 24
hours before rejoining the Whitworth force. At 2138/3rd,
northwest of Foula
Island in 61-06N, 03-58W, KELLY made a submarine contact,
also
attacking it without result. In a freshening gale, contact
was lost and KELLY
rejoined the Whitworth force.

______

Battlecruiser REPULSE(above - Peter Siddall) with destroyers HARDY,
HOSTILE and VIMY departed Portsmouth for the Clyde. The ships
arrived during the afternoon of 3 March and VIMY
immediately returned to Plymouth, via Liverpool.

______

Liner
QUEEN ELIZABETH (83,673grt) departed
the Clyde at 0800 escorted by destroyers MOHAWK, PUNJABI,
FORTUNE and FOXHOUND. As she was getting underway, MOHAWK
was damaged in
collision with steamer GARTBRATTAN (1811grt) off Greenock. However, this did not prevent her from joining the escort. Destroyer
TARTAR was just arriving
from Greenock in
the Clyde for boiler cleaning
when she received orders to join the outbound "convoy" -
the lone QUEEN ELIZABETH. TARTAR relieved MOHAWK, which
returned to the Clyde, TARTAR's commanding officer
becoming the
senior officer of the escort. The destroyers escorted the
liner to 200 miles
northwest of Rathlin Island before being detached. FOXHOUND and FORTUNE proceeded to Belfast
to escort dummy aircraft carrier HERMES (decoy
ship MAMARI) on the 3rd. All three left there on the 4th
and arrived in the Clyde on the 5th. TARTAR and PUNJABI arrived back at the Clyde on the 4th. MOHAWK entered the Ailsa Shipyard at Troon on
the 5th and was repairing until 19 March. QUEEN ELIZABETH
arrived
safely at New
York on the
7th completing her maiden voyage.

Destroyers FURY and KINGSTON
proceeded to patrol off Pladda Island in case a U-boat sighted in 55-48N, 6-45W at 1300 was en route to
mine the Clyde.
The patrol was terminated at 1000/3rd.

______

Light cruiser GALATEA
departed Portsmouth to join the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow,
and arrived on the 4th.

______

Convoy OA.102 departed
Southend, and
escorted by destroyer CAMPBELL, which accompanied the
convoy on 3 and 4
March. On the 5th, the convoy dispersed.

______

Convoy OB.102 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers WALPOLE and VANOC, until
they detached on the 5th to HX.22. The convoy dispersed on
the 6th.

______

Convoy FN.109 departed
Southend, escorted by
destroyers VALOROUS, JERVIS and sloop HASTINGS, and
arrived in the Tyne on the 4th.

______

Convoy FS.110 departed the
Tyne escorted by destroyers WHITLEY, BOREAS and sloop EGRET. Minelayer
PRINCESS VICTORIA travelled in the convoy, which arrived
at Southend on
the 4th.

______

German steamer WOLFSBURG
(6201grt) had departed Pernambuco on 5 February. Disguised
as Norwegian AUST, she scuttled herself north of Iceland
in 67‑20N, 22‑50W when intercepted by
heavy cruiser BERWICK
on Northern Patrol. BERWICK picked up the
German crew of 11 officers and 43 men and sank the steamer
with
gunfire.

______

Cable ship ROYAL SCOT with
destroyers BRAZEN and WOLSEY was involved in
mending cables in Largo Bay.

______

Submarine TRIAD undocked at
Rosyth.

______

Destroyer BEAGLE went
alongside destroyer depot
ship SANDHURST in the Submarine Basin at Dover for boiler cleaning
and degaussing, returning to service on the 7th.

______

Destroyer KEITH arrived at
Dover from Sheerness after repairs.

______

After a report of a German
submarine off the Dutch
coast, two French destroyers departed Dunkirk that evening
to sweep up the Belgian and Dutch
coast during the night.

______

U.17 sank Dutch steamer RIJNSTROOM
(695grt) in 51‑36N,
02‑54E.

______

U.32 sank Swedish steamer LAGAHOLM
(2818grt) in 59‑34N,
05‑10W, 80 miles west of Kirkwall; one crewman was lost.
Armed boarding vessels NORTHERN SKY and NORTHERN PRINCESS
were sent to
investigate. The 27
survivors were rescued by Norwegian steamer BELPAMELA
(3215grt), fourteen
were landed at Kirkwall on the 4th, and the remainder at
North Ronaldsay. U.32 also attacked BELPAMELA, but torpedo
malfunctions allowed her to escape undamaged. LAGAHOLM and
BELPAMELA were both en route for contraband inspection at
Kirkwall.

______

Steamer
ALBANO (1176grt) was sunk on a mine 7.6 miles 128.5° from Coquet Light,
midway between Blyth
and North Sunderland; nine crew
were lost. The survivors were picked up by escort vessel WALLACE and armed patrol trawler
STELLA CARINO (440grt).

______

Dutch steamer ELZIENA (176grt)
was bombed and sunk
by He111's of German KG26 (X Air Corps) five miles east of
Coquet Island; two crew were killed. The survivors were picked
up. (Sources show the rescue ship as Danish ZINE or
Dutch SINE, but neither appear in
LLOYDS).

______

At 0500, steamer DOMALA
(8441grt) was
bombed and set on fire by He111's of German KG26 (X Air
Corps) 24 miles
east of St Catherine's Point, I.O.W, between St
Catherine's Point and the
Owers. Dutch steamer JONGE WILLEM (1632grt) assisted and
was machine
gunned and bombed, also by He111's of German KG26. Four to
five bombs were dropped, but no damage was done. At 1245,
destroyers VISCOUNT,
which was en route to pick up convoy OA.102, VENOMOUS and
tug STALWART were
standing by. Destroyer ANTHONY arrived from Portsmouth
shortly after to assist in driving off further
air attacks. Soon destroyer ACHATES, tug REVUE and
anti-submarine trawler
KINGSTON AGATE (464grt) arrived. VISCOUNT picked up 120
survivors, but sustained some damage to her hull while
alongside. JONGE WILLEM picked up 51 crew
and three dead from lifeboats and took them to Newhaven.

______

Convoy BC.27 of steamers
BALTRAFFIC, BARON GRAHAM,
BOTHNIA, BRITISH COAST and MARSLEW (Commodore) departed Loire escorted by destroyer VIVACIOUS, and arrived safely in the Bristol Channel on the
4th.

______

Convoy HN.16 six British,
eighteen Norwegian, two
Finnish and two Danish ships departed Bergen escorted by
destroyers ESCAPADE, ENCOUNTER,
ELECTRA and ESCORT. When the convoy split into sections,
destroyers INGLEFIELD
and IMOGEN took over the seven ships of the west coast
section. Convoy HN.16
and ELECTRA, ESCAPADE, ENCOUNTER, ESCORT and ECLIPSE
arrived safely
at Methil on the 5th. INGLEFIELD and IMOGEN arrived in the
Clyde at 0630/6th after dispersing the west bound section of HN.16
at Cape Wrath.

Convoy HX.24 departed
Halifax at 0800 escorted by Canadian destroyers SAGUENAY, SKEENA and ST LAURENT, the
latter returning to Halifax after dark. SAGUENAY and SKEENA turned over the
convoy to battleship REVENGE
on
the 3rd, and they arrived back at Halifax mid-morning on
the 4th. REVENGE detached
on the 11th. Destroyers VERSATILE, WAKEFUL, WALPOLE and
WOLVERINE escorted the
convoy from the 14th to 17th, when it arrived at
Liverpool.

______

Light cruiser DUNEDIN
intercepted German merchant ship HEIDELBERG
(6530grt) 60 miles WSW of the Windward Passage in the Caribbean. She had departed
Aruba the day before with German steamer TROJA, which had
also scuttled herself to avoid capture.

Sunday,
3 March

The last German ship of the
February Vigo group,
steamer ARUCAS (3359grt), scuttled herself in
63‑20N, 14‑15W
when she was intercepted by heavy cruiser YORKin 63‑08N, 14‑42W.
The crew was
rescued, but three died. YORK arrived at Kirkwall to land the 39 survivors on the 10th.

______

Minelayer TEVIOTBANK and
destroyers ESK, EXPRESS,
ICARUS and IMPULSIVE of the 20th Destroyer Flotilla laid
mines in Operation IE-1
in the channels through the German mine fields in the
Heligoland Bight. The ships arrived back in the Humber on
the 3rd. Operation IE 2 was
postponed.

______

Convoy ON.17 of three
British, sixteen Norwegian,
twelve Swedish, five Danish, two Finnish and two Estonian
ships departed Methil at 1700 escorted by destroyers
NUBIAN, DELIGHT (SO), DIANA, ILEX and GURKHA, with
anti-aircraft support provided by anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA.
Destroyer COSSACK was assigned to the convoy,
but was held back as unseaworthy for repairs to leaking
seams. GURKHA arrived at Scapa
Flow from Rosyth on the
2nd as her replacement. On
the 4th abreast of Scapa
Flow, DIANA and submarine NARWHAL escorting
fleet auxiliary GREENAWN (784grt) were detached, with
DIANA and GREENAWN arriving at Scapa
Flow on the 5th and
NARWHAL on the 6th after
being delayed by gales. Light cruisers EDINBURGH
and ARETHUSA,
which departed
Rosyth on the 3rd, gave this convoy, as well as ON.17 A
and HN.17, close
support. ON.17 arrived at Bergen on the 7th without event.

______

Convoy MT.22 departed
Methil, escorted by trawlers
of the 1st Anti-submarine Group and sloops BLACK SWAN and
GRIMSBY. Destroyer IMPERIAL travelled in the convoy en
route to the Tyne for repairs. The convoy arrived in the
Tyne later that day.

______

Convoy FN.110 departed
Southend, escorted by
destroyer VIVIEN and sloops PELICAN and FLEETWOOD, as far
as the Tyne, and arrived in the Tyne on the 5th. Destroyer JAVELIN carried on to Methil.

______

Convoy FS.111 departed the
Tyne escorted by sloops BLACK SWAN,
GRIMSBY and destroyer JERVIS, and arrived at Southend on
the 5th.

______

Destroyers BRAZEN and WOLSEY
with cable ship ROYAL SCOT departed Rosyth for operations
east of MayIsland. ROYAL SCOT then
proceeded to Leith and BRAZEN to Rosyth, arriving on the 5th.

Battlecruiser RENOWN
departed Plymouth for the Clyde escorted by
destroyers ACASTA, KIMBERLEY
and FIREDRAKE. Air
support was provided from the
morning of the 4th. The ships arrived in the Clyde at 1230/4th, and ACASTA, after refuelling, returned to Plymouth.

______

Destroyers KHARTOUM and
KINGSTON departed Greenock for
repairs to weather damage to their hulls and refitting at
Falmouth. During the evening of the 4th at 1903, WSW of
Trevose Head in 50-31.21N, 5-24.4W, they attacked a
submarine contact, assessed
later as probably a wreck. After searching for another
U-boat reported late
on the 4th, KHARTOUM
and KINGSTON arrived at Falmouth.

Lt B E H Stranack, Lt
(A) J D Stern and Naval Airman J W White of 816 Squadron
were killed at Campbeltown when their Swordfish landed and
collided with two stationary aircraft, a total of five
aircraft being destroyed.

______

U.29 laid mines off Newport.
Two merchant ships were
lost on this minefield, starting with steamer CATO
(710grt) on the 3rd in 51‑24N,
03‑33W; of a fifteen man crew, thirteen were lost. The two
survivors were rescued by auxiliary minesweeper AKITA
(FY610).

______

French light cruiser LA
GALISSONIERE, escorted by
destroyers RAILLEUSE and FORBIN, departed Oran. The
destroyers were detached on the 6th at Gibraltar and the
cruiser proceeded to Brest. RAILLEUSE and FORBIN then
joined light
cruiser PRIMAGUET, arriving from Brest, and escorted her
to Toulon, which they reached on the 8th.

Destroyers INTREPID, GALLANT
and IVANHOE arrived at Aberdeen to patrol. INTREPID left
to investigate
a submarine reported at 0530 six miles NE of Aberdeen,
and destroyers
JUPITER and JUNO of convoy ON.17A were detached to assist.
Trawler BEN CHOURN (197grt) reported an explosion in this
area. It was first thought that convoy ON.17 was under
attack. It was later
ascertained that the submarine was the British NARWHAL,
proceeding to Scapa Flow, and that the explosion was a
depth charge fired by
destroyer NUBIAN.

______

Submarine TRIAD carried out
special trials off
Inchkeith.

______

Destroyer VESPER departed
Greenock escorting submarine TETRARCH to
Portsmouth, where
they
arrived on the 6th. TETRARCH carried out equipment
repairs, and then sailed on 13 April for a war patrol.

______

Anti-submarine trawler NEIL
MACKAY went ashore at Scapa Flow during a storm, but was
later refloated.

______

At 2030, tanker CHARLES T.
MEYER
(10,516grt) of convoy HX.20 A, escorted by sloop FOWEY,
struck a floating mine 15 miles south of Dungeness, in
50-21N, 0-18E. FOWEY
continued on with the convoy. To assist the damaged
tanker, destroyers BRILLIANT was ordered from Dover,
BOADICEA from her patrol, and KEITH from Dover when ready.
Tug LADY BRASSEY and French
torpedo boats and trawlers proceeded to the area. BOADICEA
located
the damaged tanker at 0400. At 0500, BRILLIANT joined and
soon after
KEITH arrived. At 0600, BOADICEA took the tanker in tow
escorted by BRILLIANT and KEITH. Tugs LADY BRASSEY from
Dover and FOREMOST from Newhaven arrived at 0959 and
took over the tow. BRILLIANT returned to her patrol at
0700, but KEITH remained as an anti-submarine screen. Tug
CALSHOT
departed Southampton at 1100 and Admiralty Salvage Vessel
RECOVERY OF
LEITH departed Dover. KEITH was released when the tow
reached
Sandown Bay,
I.O.W. All units involved arrived safely at Castle Point,
Cowes, at 0105/6th.

______

Convoy ON.17 A of six
British, sixteen Norwegian,
eight Swedish, eight Finnish, three Estonian and one
Panamanian ship departed Methil escorted by destroyers
JERVIS, JUNO, JUPITER, JANUS and JAGUAR. One steamer was
detached
before the convoy crossed the North Sea. The
convoy was joined by 17 ships from Kirkwall. These are included in the sailing breakdown from Methil.
Anti-aircraft cruiser CALCUTTA
departed Sullom Voe on the 5th for anti-aircraft
protection. Destroyer JERVIS made an attack at 0905/7th on
a submarine
contact northeast of the Shetlands in 61‑15N, 1‑20E. The
convoy
arrived safely at Bergen on the 8th, while CALCUTTA
arrived back at Sullom Voe on the 9th.

______

Convoy FN.111 departed
Southend, escorted
by destroyers VEGA, GRENADE and sloop STORK, and arrived
in the Tyne on the 6th.

______

Convoy FS.112 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloop FLAMINGO and destroyer WALLACE, and arrived
at Southend on the 6th. Convoy FS.113 was cancelled.

______

Convoy MT.23 departed
Methil, and arrived in
the Tyne the next day.

______

Sloop LEITH, escorting
convoy HG.20, attacked a submarine contact west of Scilly
Isle in 49‑57N,
08‑15W. Destroyer VENETIA, also of HG.20, joined her in the hunt.

______

U.29 sank steamers THURSTON
(3072grt) 32 miles west of Trevose Head in 50-23N, 5-49W
and PACIFIC
RELIANCE (6717grt) in 50‑23N, 05‑49W. THURSTON had
been
involved in a collision with French collier S N A 1
(2679grt) which sank, and had just rescued the French
survivors when she herself was sunk. Thirty four crew were
lost on THURSTON, while one survivor each from
SNA 1 and THURSTON was picked up by steamer
MOYLE (1761grt). All 53 crew of PACIFIC RELIANCE were
rescued by steamer MACVILLE (666grt) and tanker SAN
FLORENTINO (12,842grt). U.29 also attacked SAN FLORENTINO
but torpedo failures allowed her to escape.

______

Steamer
AUCKLAND STAR (13,212grt) reported she had sighted a
submarine (U.28) in 49‑26N, 07‑27W. Sloop LEITH nearby, escorting convoy HG.20 was detached to investigate. On the
morning of the 5th, destroyers WILD SWAN and VENETIA were ordered into the area to assist. Later on the 5th, another report
of a submarine, led to destroyers WHIRLWIND, VOLUNTEER and
VETERAN being
ordered into the area.

______

The German Navy began
holding submarines in port
for WESERUBUNG, the invasion of Norway, and cancelled all
other naval operations.

______

Convoy HG.21 of 34 ships
departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyers VELOX, VIDETTE
and ACTIVE, the latter detaching on the 6th. VELOX, which
had joined
from convoy HG.20F, and VIDETTE were detached on the 11th
to
Portsmouth and Devonport, respectively. Destroyer VIMY
escorted the convoy from the 4th to 10th, when she
detached to convoy
HG.21 (?). Destroyer WINCHELSEA joined from the 11th to
13th in Home
Waters for the Liverpool section. Merchant ships not going
to
Liverpool were escorted by destroyer WINDSOR which was
with
the convoy from the 11th to 13th. The convoy arrived at
Liverpool on the 13th .

______

Heavy cruiser CORNWALL
departed Freetown on patrol.

______

Heavy cruiser CUMBERLAND
departed Freetown.

______

Light cruiser DUNEDIN
departed Kingston on patrol.

Tuesday,
5 March

Light cruiser NEWCASTLE
arrived at Scapa Flow after Northern Patrol.

______

Destroyers HARDY, HOSTILE,
PUNJABI, FORTUNE and
FOXHOUND departed Greenock to screen armed merchant
cruisers SCOTSTOUN,
LETITIA and WORCESTERSHIRE for full calibre firings.
SCOTSTOUN ten
proceeded to her patrol area, while LETITIA arrived back
at 1500, WORCESTERSHIRE at 1700, and the destroyers at
2010. WORCESTERSHIRE and LETITIA were returning from
Northern Patrol at the time.

Destroyers JAVELIN and
WOOLSTON departed the Humber escorting base ship DUNLUCE CASTLE for Rosyth, arriving there on the 6th.

______

Destroyer WANDERER arrived
at Liverpool at 1030 with urgent defects, which were
corrected and she was able to sail later that day. She
attacked a contact in
St Georges Channel in 52‑01N, 6‑27W, which was later
determined to be non-submarine.

______

Armed merchant cruisers
SCOTSTOUN and MALOJA departed
the Clyde on Northern Patrol. Both were given air escort.

______

Submarine TRITON arrived at
Rosyth after patrol.

______

Submarine SEALION departed
Harwich on patrol.

______

Submarine NARWHAL arrived at
Scapa Flow for direction finding trials.

______

Submarine THISTLE and the
Polish ORZEL
departed Rosyth for patrol in the vicinity of Devil's
Hole.

______

Submarine TRITON was docked
at Rosyth for
reballasting.

______

Convoy OA.104 departed
Southend escorted by sloop
FOWEY from the 5th to 7th.

______

Convoy OB.104 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers MACKAY and VANQUISHER
from the 5th to 8th.

______

Convoy SA.32 departed
Southampton with two steamers, escorted by sloops FOXGLOVE
and
ROSEMARY, and arrived at Brest on the 7th.

______

Convoy MT.24 departed
Methil, and arrived in
the Tyne the next day.

______

Convoy OG.21F was formed
from two convoys - (1) OA.103GF,
which departed Southend with sloop ENCHANTRESS, and was
joined by sloop SANDWICH the next day, and (2) OB.103GF of
48 ships, which
departed Liverpool escorted by destroyers WHIRLWIND and
VOLUNTEER, which remained with the combined convoy from
the 5th to 6th, when they detached to convoy HG.21F.
SANDWICH and ENCHANTRESS were with OG.21F from the 5th to
11th, when they were temporarily attached to the 13th
Destroyer Flotilla as
replacements for destroyers WATCHMAN and VORTIGERN which
proceeded to England for leave. Destroyer DOUGLAS joined
on the 9th and remained with the convoy until its arrival
at Gibraltar on the 11th.

______

Convoy FN.112 departed
Southend escorted by sloop
EGRET and destroyer WHITLEY, and arrived in the Tyne on the 7th. Convoys FN.113 and
FS.113 were cancelled.

______

Destroyer TARTAR was boiler
cleaning and destroyer KIMBERLEY was shifting her asdic
dome alongside destroyer
depot ship WOOLWICH at the Tail of the Bank.

______

Owing to reports of floating
mines 15 miles
SW and SE of Beachy
Head, sloop ABERDEEN with convoy HX.20 was ordered
southward of the
area.

______

Steamer SCALTSCAR lost her
propeller and
was drifting on shore 10 miles off Saltburn Pier.
Destroyer VIVIEN stood by
until a tug arrived.

______

U.17 sank Dutch steamer GRUTTO
(920grt) in 51‑41N,
02‑47E.

______

U.52 and U.38 departed Kiel
on the 2nd and Wilhelmshaven on the 9th respectively for
patrol, but in the Atlantic were recalled, and with U.30, U.43, U.44, U.46, U.47, U.49, U.51 were
ordered to stations on both sides of the Orkneys and
Shetlands to operate
against British naval units. U.30, U.46, U.47, U.51
departed Wilhelmshaven on the 11th,
and U.43 and U.44 on the 13th, while U.49 departed Kiel on
the 16th.

______

Convoy HX.25 departed
Halifax at 0800 escorted by Canadian destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST
LAURENT, which were detached on the 6th. Armed merchant
cruiser LACONIA was in the escort and detached on the
18th. At 0650/7th, the convoy was joined by battleship ROYAL
SOVEREIGN, returning
to Halifax after escorting HX.22. Destroyers ANTELOPE,
MACKAY, VANESSA and WOLVERINE escorted the convoy from the
18th to 20th when it arrived at Liverpool.

______

Cruiser HAWKINS
departed Montevideo for Port Stanley.
After a short refit, she departed on the 15th for the
Plate area.

______

Light cruiser COLOMBO
arrived at Gibraltar from England, and sailed on the 6th
for Malta.

______

Convoy SL.23 departed
Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser PRETORIA CASTLE. On the 19th, convoys SL.23 and SLF.23 merged and armed merchant
cruiser JERVIS BAY
joined the escort, relieving PRETORIA CASTLE. JERVIS BAY
was relieved on the 20th by destroyer WHITSHED which was
joined on the 22nd
by armed merchant cruiser ESPERANCE BAY.
The convoy arrived on the 22nd.

______

Light cruiser GLOUCESTER
arrived at Colombo.

Wednesday,
6 March

German steamer URUGUAY
(5846grt), which had departed Pernambuco on 11
February, was sighted by trawler ST WISTAN (564grt)
northwest of Iceland. This enabled heavy cruiser BERWICK
on Northern
Patrol to intercept her. Rather than be captured, URUGUAY
scuttled herself in 67‑52N, 16‑08W; BERWICK rescued 14
officers and 40 men.

______

Light cruiser DRAGON
departed Portland for duty with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron
in the
Mediterranean Fleet. She departed Gibraltar on the 10th,
arrived at Malta on the 12th for refitting, and reached
Alexandria on 3 April.

______

Armed merchant cruiser
ASTURIAS departed the Clyde for Belfast for overhaul and
refit.

Destroyer VENOMOUS was in a
collision with tug
SWARTHY at 0321 in Portsmouth
Harbour,
was under repair at
Portsmouth until 29 April, and departed on 2 May.

______

Destroyer JUNO arrived at
Rosyth from convoy duty with defects, and departed on the
9th for repairs at Hull.

______

Destroyer HOTSPUR departed
Sheerness for the Clyde, arriving on the 8th.

______

Destroyer GALLANT arrived at
Invergordon from
patrol.

______

Destroyer FURY departed the
Clyde at 1600 for Milford Haven to discharge fuel prior to arriving at Newport
for refitting. At 2334/6th, she
attacked a submarine contact southwest of Chicken Rock,
I.O.M., in 53‑47N,
5‑09W, which was later assessed as probably a wreck. On
the 7th, she attacked another submarine contact in 53-48N,
5-06W, also a wreck, and reached Milford Haven on the 9th.

Sloops KINGFISHER and
FOXGLOVE were searching for a
submarine SSE of Portland Bill. FOXGLOVE attacked a
contact in 50-10N, 2-12W, and destroyer ANTHONY relieved
KINGFISHER in the hunt.

______

Destroyer WOLSEY and cable
ship ROYAL SCOT arrived back at Rosyth after cable mending
all
day.

______

Convoy TM.20 escorted by the
19th Anti-submarine
Group and destroyer VIVIEN departed the Tyne for Methil.

______

Convoy FN.114 departed
Southend escorted by sloops
BLACK SWAN, GRIMSBY and destroyer WOOLSTON, and arrived in
the Tyne on the 8th.

______

Convoy FS.114 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloops LONDONDERRY
and FLEETWOOD, and arrived at Southend on
the 8th.

______

Destroyer GURKHA attacked a
submarine contact ENE of Sumburgh Head in 60‑00N, 00‑00W,
which was
later evaluated as non-submarine.

______

Anti-submarine trawler
NORTHERN WAVE (655grt) attacked a submarine contact north
of
Kinnaird Head in 57-51N, 2-03W.

______

Shadowing submarine UNITY
reported German supply ship ALTMARK departing Jossing
Fjord escorted by two Norwegian destroyers, and was later
ordered
to take up a position ten miles north of Hantsholm.
Submarine ORZEL was
in a patrol area off Hantsholm, and both submarines were
to intercept ALTMARK if she left Norwegian territorial
waters. On the 7th, UNITY
sighted three darkened destroyers two miles west of
Hantsholm, but could not attack.

______

Submarine STERLET arrived at
Lowestoft from patrol for reballasting.

______

Aircraft of German X Air
Corps (He111's of KG26 or
Ju88's of KG30) attacked tanker SHELBRIT 2 (695grt) off
Girdle Ness,
steamer ROYSTON (2722grt) 10 miles north of Hartlepool,
steamer JACOBUS
(1262grt) 10 miles south of the Tyne, and convoy TM.20. No
casualties were
sustained.

______

Dutch submarine O.11
at Den Helder was sunk in an accidental collision with
Dutch
dockyard tug BV.3 (AMSTERDAM). She was raised on the 10th,
but was
still under repair when Holland
fell in May.

______

Latvian steamer LATVIS
(1318grt) was seized in the
Baltic by German warships, and renamed EDITH FAULBAUMS for
German
use.

______

French battleship PROVENCE,
heavy cruiser
DUQUESNE, and British aircraft carrier HERMES
with destroyers DECOY and DEFENDER patrolled off the
African coast between 10W
and 20W from the 6th to 16th. On the 14th, Portuguese
steamer GANDIA (4333grt)
was stopped and a German citizen removed, and on the 15th,
Portuguese steamer MOUZINHO (8374grt) was also stopped and
another German citizen removed.

______

Light cruiser DANAE
departed Hong Kong on patrol.

Thursday,
7 March

Completing patrol,
battleship VALIANT
and battlecruiser HOOD
with destroyers FAULKNOR, FAME, FORESTER, KELLY, KANDAHAR
and SIKH arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1600 after dummy battleships REVENGE (decoy ship
PAKEHA) and
RESOLUTION (decoy ship WAIMANA) from Rosyth spent some
time at Scapa Flow
testing the base's ability to resist air attacks. After
VALIANT
and HOOD arrived in the anchorage, aircraft of German KG26
(X
Air Corps) dropped mines in the main entrance to Scapa
Flow.

Battleship RODNEY
(C-in-C, Forbes) and battlecruisers RENOWN
and REPULSE
with destroyers HARDY (D.2), HOSTILE, INGLEFIELD (D.3),
IMOGEN, FOXHOUND, FORTUNE, FIREDRAKE, PUNJABI and
KIMBERLEY departed the Clyde at 1615/7th to arrive at 1600/8th. The ships were taken to the west
of the Orkneys for 24 hours while the channel was swept.
Winston
Churchill was on RODNEY, and he transferred to KIMBERLEY, which carried him
on to Scapa Flow, where he spent the night on HOOD.
Destroyers FAULKNOR and FORESTER left Scapa Flow on the
8th and joined the Commander in Chief off Cape Wrath.
RODNEY, RENOWN, REPULSE with destroyers HARDY, HOSTILE,
INGLEFIELD, IMOGEN, FOXHOUND, FORTUNE,
FIREDRAKE, PUNJABI, FAULKNOR and FORESTER arrived at Scapa
Flow at 1000/9th.

Destroyers INTREPID, GRIFFIN
and anti-submarine whalers BUTTERMERE (560grt) and
WASTWATER (560grt) made attacks on a contact sighted by
aircraft at 1448, ESE of Noss Head in 58‑17N, 02‑26W.
INTREPID attacked at 1715 and 1744,
and GRIFFIN at 1730. The two destroyers were joined by
destroyers FAME at 1800/7th and SIKH at 1900. These two
were ordered to join the hunt until required to escort
base ship DUNLUCE CASTLE and three other steamers from convoy ON.18 into Scapa Flow. After GRIFFIN,
SIKH and FAME detached, INTREPID
was left to stand by the contact, later leaving for
Invergordon where she arrived at 1300/8th. Destroyer
GALLANT joined the search at midday on the 8th, but the
search was unsuccessful.
FAME buoyed the location on the 8th, and
INTREPID and GALLANT returned to patrol the area.

______

BRITISH
SUBMARINE MOVEMENTS

TRIDENT arrived at Rosyth
from patrol
with a damaged asdic dome, and docked later that
day. She undocked on the 11th.

SEAL was undocked at Rosyth.

SNAPPER arrived at Harwich
after patrol.

URSULA was docked at Blyth to make good leaking glands, and undocked on the
8th.

TRUANT was undocked at
Rosyth.

TRITON was docked at Rosyth
for reballasting, and undocked on the 9th.

SEAWOLF departed Portsmouth
under escort for Harwich.

SALMON departed Harwich on
patrol.

L.23 was undocked at
Blyth.

______

Convoy ON.18 of ten British,
thirteen Norwegian,
twelve Swedish, two Danish, four Finnish and two Estonian
ships departed Methil
at 1700 escorted by destroyers COSSACK (D.4), ESCORT,
ECLIPSE, ELECTRA and
ENCOUNTER. Destroyers KELLY (D.5) departed Scapa Flow on
the 8th and KANDAHAR from Kirkwall on the
8th with a detachment of ten ships for the convoy. These
ten ships are
included in the sailing breakdown. They joined off Scapa
Flow, relieving COSSACK which joined convoy
HN.17. On the 8th, German aircraft attacked the Kirkwall section. Two bombs were dropped, but no damage was done.
Base ship DUNLUCE CASTLE and three other
merchant ships for Scapa Flow proceeded with the convoy.
Light cruisers
EDINBURGH,
ARETHUSA
and anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO
provided near cover. CAIRO departed Sullom Voe on the 9th
to join the convoy.
Destroyers FAME and SIKH put out from Scapa Flow. The
destroyers met four merchant ships from the
convoy at 1300 and escorted them into Scapa Flow, arriving
on the 8th. The convoy arrived at Bergen without event on
the 10th.

______

CONVOY HN.17

Convoy HN.17 of eight
British, nineteen Norwegian, one
Danish and one Finnish ship departed Bergen escorted by
destroyers NUBIAN, DELIGHT, DIANA,
ILEX and GURKHA. On the 9th when the convoy split, DELIGHT
and DIANA
were assigned the west coast section and were reinforced
by destroyers
KIMBERLEY, which came out from Scapa Flow at 1800/9th, and
KELLY, detached from convoy ON.18. GURKHA obtained a
submarine contact at 1412/9th
southwest of Fair Isle in 59‑15N, 1‑08W and dropped six
depth
charge patterns in 59-07N, 0-44W. ILEX stood by the
contact while
the convoy continued. Destroyer FOXHOUND arrived from
Scapa Flow at 0300/10th to relieve
ILEX, which rejoined the convoy before it arrived at
Rosyth. The submarine contact was later found to be sunken
steamer SANTOS. At 0520/9th, KELLY reached convoy HN.17 in
heavy weather ,collided with GURKHA, and GURKHA's
propeller
guard tore a thirty foot gash in her bow, requiring KELLY
to
leave the convoy for repairs. After emergency repairs at
Lerwick and then
from depot ship WOOLWICH at Scapa
Flow, KELLY departed Scapa Flow on the 14th and was
escorted by destroyer SIKH to Blackwall for
repairs .

GURKHA was able to continue
with HN.17 and was repaired at Methil in less than a week.
After suspected
enemy vessels were reported four miles NE of Kinnaird
Head, destroyer
COSSACK was informed and light cruisers EDINBURGH
and ARETHUSA
were advised
to investigate. No contact was made and the vessels were
later determined to
be destroyers GALLANT and GRIFFIN.
On the 10th, the convoy arrived at Methil with COSSACK
(D.4),
NUBIAN, GURKHA and ILEX.

DELIGHT and DIANA, after
escorting the five
ships of the west coast portion of the convoy to Cape
Wrath, arrived at Scapa
Flow. On arrival, DELIGHT reported a defect in her feed
tank.

______

Minelayer TEVIOTBANK
escorted by destroyers ICARUS
and IMPULSIVE departed the Humber for Invergordon, where
they arrived on the 9th.

______

Destroyer MASHONA departed
Sheerness for the Clyde, arriving on the 8th.

______

Convoy TM.21 departed the
Tyne escorted by the 3rd Anti-submarine Group, and supported by sloop EGRET
and destroyer WHITLEY.

______

Convoy MT.25 departed Methil
escorted by the 19th
Anti-submarine Group, supported by sloop PELICAN and
destroyer VIVIEN, and arrived later that day.

______

Convoy FS.115 departed the
Tyne escorted by sloop PELICAN and destroyer VIVIEN, and arrived at
Southend on the 9th.

______

Destroyer BEAGLE completed
boiler cleaning and
degaussing alongside depot ship SANDHURST.
Destroyer BRILLIANT went alongside SANDHURST for
similar work and repairs which were completed on the 12th.

______

British minefield DML 9 was
laid by auxiliary
minelayer HAMPTON, escorted by Polish destroyers BURZA and
BLYSKAWICA
from Harwich and destroyers KEITH and BOADICEA from Dover,
in the English Channel,
between 51-53N and 51-59N in a direction 20° east to 20°
west. Minesweeper FRANKLIN had already laid the mark
buoys. After the
operation, the destroyers returned to Harwich.

______

A submarine contact report
by anti-submarine yacht
MAID MARION (506grt) eight miles from Eddystone Light
caused destroyers WILD
SWAN, ESKIMO and VANESSA to be dispatched from Plymouth to
investigate.

At 0026/8th in Moray Firth
in 58-02.7N, 2-09W, NORTHERN DAWN (655grt) made a contact
which was attacked by NORTHERN SPRAY.

At 1310/9th off Buchanness
in 57-31N, 1-38W,
NORTHERN PRIDE made a contact which was attacked by
NORTHERN GEM (655grt) and NORTHERN PRIDE.

At 1940/9th, east of
Kinnaird Head in 57-42N, 1-35W, NORTHERN DAWN made a
contact which was attacked by NORTHERN SPRAY and NORTHERN
DAWN.

At 0955/10th,
ENE of Kinnaird Head, NORTHERN PRIDE made
a contact which was attacked by NORTHERN GEM and NORTHERN
PRIDE.

At 0100/11th, north of
Kinnaird Head in 57-52.5N, 1-56W, NORTHERN WAVE made a
contact which was attacked by
NORTHERN WAVE and NORTHERN SPRAY.

______

Patrol sloop MALLARD damaged
her bows in collision
with an unknown ship off Harwich, and was under
repair at London from 9 March to 27 April.

______

Minesweeping trawler CEDAR
(649grt) was damaged in
collision with the dockyard wall at Leith.

______

Convoy BC.29 of six
steamers, including steamer
BARON KINNIARD (Commodore) departed Bristol Channel
escorted by destroyer VIVACIOUS, and arrived in the Loire on the 9th.

______

From 1940 to 2005, shipping
in the Downs was attacked by German aircraft. Ramsgate guardship LORMONT
and steamer
DOVER ABBEY (958grt) were bombed by He111's of KG26 (X Air
Corps), but
no damage was done.

______

GERMAN
AUXILIARY SHIP MINELAYING OFF NORTH FORELAND

German naval auxiliary
Schiff 11 (Estonian steamer
HANONIA (2564grt)) which had been captured on 24 September
1939) departed Wilhelmshaven and on the 9th, disguised as
a neutral ship, laid mines off North Foreland. Five ships
of 14,152 tons were lost on this
minefield.

On the 11th, Dutch steamer AMOR
(2325grt) was sunk in 51‑24N,
02‑09E, eight miles NW of Fairy Bank Buoy; the entire crew
was
rescued by Irish steamer CITY OF BREMEN
(903grt).

Greek steamer NIRITOS
(3854grt) was badly damaged on the 11th
in 51‑25N, 01‑45E; steamer KIRKPLEIN stood by and tug
GUARDSMAN later brought the ship in to Small Downs.

On
the 15th, steamer MELROSE
(1589grt) was sunk in 51‑21N, 02‑13E; eighteen
crew were lost and five rescued.

On the 17th,
French steamer CAPITAINE AUGUSTIN (3137grt) was
lost 2˝ miles 126° from Tongue Light
Vessel; two crew were killed.

On the 17th, Dutch
steamer SINT ANNALAND (2248grt) was sunk in
51‑23N, 02‑01E; the entire crew was rescued by Dutch
steamer SCHIELAND (2249grt).

On the 18th, Italian steamer
TINO PRIMO (4853grt) was lost in 51‑20N, 01‑42E;
tug KENIA
from Ramsgate took her in tow, but she struck two more
mines
and sank. One crewman was lost.

______

German minelayers ROLAND and
COBRA laid two
anti-submarine mine barriers west of Heligoland during the
7th and 8th.

______

U.32 laid mines north of
Liverpool Bay, on which one
merchant ship was lost.

______

U.28 laid mines southeast of
the Isle of Wight off Portsmouth.

______

U.14 sank Dutch steamer
VECHT (1965grt) in 51‑45N,
03‑05E.

______

Belgian fishing vessel YOLANDE
MARGUERITE (26grt)
was bombed and sunk by He111's of German KG26 (X Air
Corps) off Noord Hinder.

______

Dutch steamer CONFID
(249grt) was bombed and
damaged by He111's of German KG26 (X Air Corps) 6˝ miles
350° from Flamborough Head.

______

Italian steamer AMELIA LAURO
(5335grt) was damaged
by German bombing in 52‑55N, 02‑19E. Italian steamer
TITANIA (5397grt) rescued the 37 crew and took them to the
Downs. Sloops PINTAIL and LONDONDERRY were also involved
in the rescue. The
steamer was taken to Immingham, and was still there
on 10 June, when she
was seized and renamed EMPIRE ACTIVITY for British use.

______

French auxiliary minesweeper
MARIE YETTE (286grt)
was sunk in collision with French steamer SPRAMEX
(2560grt) in
the River Gironde.

Friday,
8 March

Heavy cruisers NORFOLK
from the Clyde and BERWICK
from Northern Patrol arrived at Scapa Flow.

Patrol trawlers CHILTERN
(324grt) and CLOUGHTON
WYKE (324grt) fishing in 58-12N, 9-18W, northwest of St
Kilda were attacked
by a submarine with gunfire. They drove her off with no
damage to themselves or the submarine.

______

Convoy OA.106 departed
Southend escorted by
destroyer VANESSA from the 8th to 9th.

______

Convoy OB.106 departed
Liverpool escorted by sloop ROCHESTER and destroyer
VENETIA. On the 11th, when the convoy dispersed, they joined convoy
SL.22.

______

Convoy FN.115 departed
Southend escorted by sloop
FLAMINGO and destroyer WALLACE, and arrived in the Tyne on the 10th.

______

Convoy MT.26 departed Methil
escorted by the 19th
Anti-submarine Group and supported by destroyer JAVELIN.
Convoy TM.22
also departed the Tyne. When the two convoys crossed,
JAVELIN
detached to the north-bound TM convoy and escorted it to
Rosyth. The south-bound MT convoy
arrived in the Tyne on the 9th.

______

Convoy FS.116 departed the
Tyne escorted by destroyers VEGA, WOOLSTON and sloop STORK, and arrived at
Southend on the 10th.

Steamer
COUNSELLOR (5068grt, Commodore HX.22) was sunk by a
mine laid on the 7th by U.32 off Mersey Light Vessel in
53‑38N, 03‑23W. Destroyer WALPOLE unsuccessfully attempted
to tow her to safety; the entire crew was rescued.
(Note: Rohwer's "Axis Submarine Successes" lists her as
COUNCILLOR, and
confirms the mines were laid by U.32. UBoat.net reports
they were laid by
U.30, and that WALPOLE rescued 78 survivors.)

______

Finnish steamer JULIETTE
(1449grt) was brought into
the Downs for inspection by French torpedo boat
L'INCOMPRISE.

______

German steamer HANNOVER (5537grt), which departed Curacao during the
night of the 5th/6th, was captured early on the 8th by
light cruiser DUNEDIN
and Canadian destroyer ASSINIBOINE (Cdr E R Mainguy RCN)
off Santa Domingo in the Mona Passage. DUNEDIN took her in
tow for Kingston, and while on passage ASSINIBOINE had to
fight a fire onboard after the crew attempted to scuttle
her. HANNOVER arrived at Kingston on the 13th with DUNEDIN
and ASSINIBOINE secured on either side. French light
cruiser
JEANNE D' ARC had also been involved in the search for
this German ship and
arrived at the same time. The
captured ship was renamed EMPIRE AUDACITY for British service and later became HMS
AUDACITY, the Royal Navy's first escort carrier.

______

French light cruiser
PRIMAUGUET after repairs at Lorient departed Brest on the
3rd and arrived at Toulon on the 8th. She departed on the
11th, escorted by destroyer LYNX and arrived at Casablanca
on the 13th, after passing Gibraltar the same day. LYNX
departed Casablanca on the 20th and arrived at Brest on
the 25th, while PRIMAUGUET left Casablanca on 1 April and
arrived at Fort de France on 10
April.

______

French submarine REDOUTABLE,
escorted by destroyer
LA PALME, which departed Toulon
on the 4th, arrived at Gibraltar. The destroyer continued
on to Casablanca, but the submarine remained at Gibraltar
for ten days for anti-submarine exercises with the
British Gibraltar Force escorts, and then departed on the
18th, escorted by armed yacht ALPHEE,
flying the flag of Vice Amiral Ollive.

Destroyer JERVIS attacked a
submarine contact 4.6
miles 102° from Bell Rock. Sisters ship JUPITER and JANUS
hunted in the area
until dark. Meanwhile JERVIS and JAGUAR, also sister
ships, arrived at Rosyth after escort duty
with convoy ON.17 A, with JUPITER and JANUS reaching there
on
the 9th.

______

Destroyers KHARTOUM and
KINGSTON arrived at Falmouth for refittings.

______

Destroyer KANDAHAR departed
Scapa Flow at 0745
for Hull to repair structural damage to her petrol tank
compartment. On passage she attacked a submarine contact
east of Berwick in 55‑04N, 1‑41W
at 2042, and another one off Filey Brig in 54‑17N,
00‑09W at 0735/10th before arriving in the Humber on the 10th.

______

Destroyer ESKIMO departed
Portsmouth on the 8th after refitting at Southampton and
arrived at the Clyde on the 9th.

______

Destroyers HOTSPUR and
MASHONA departed the Clyde at 1200 to provide escort for armed merchant cruiser LETITIA on a
full calibre firings in the Forth of Clyde. Afterwards,
the destroyers
carried out their own full calibre firing. LETITIA
proceeded to
her station on Northern Patrol, and the destroyers arrived
at Tail of the Bank.

______

Submarine SEAWOLF departed
Harwich for a special
patrol in the vicinity of Outer Dowsing Light Vessel.

______

Convoy FN.116 departed
Southend with destroyer VIMIERA joining on the 9th
for the voyage to Rosyth. The convoy arrived in the Tyne on the 11th.

______

Convoy FS.117 departed the
Tyne escorted by sloop EGRET and destroyer WHITLEY, and arrived at Southend
on the 11th.

______

Anti-submarine trawler
CORNELIAN (568grt) on patrol
near Bar Light Vessel in Liverpool Bay
in 51-30.5N, 3-29W attacked a submarine contact. Destroyer
WHIRLWIND and anti-submarine yacht VIRGINIA (712grt)
searched the area on the 10th in daylight, but were unable
to reestablish contact.

______

Trawler JUST REWARD sighted
a light nine miles NE by E of Scarborough, and considering
it to be a dan buoy, approached. However, on arrival at
the light, the trawler found a submarine
which dived immediately.

______

Convoy BC.28 of steamers
BARON CARNEGIE
(Commodore), BATNA, KERMA, LOCHEE, PIZARRO and RAMON DE
LARRINAGA departed the Loire
escorted by destroyer VIVACIOUS, and arrived in the
Bristol Channel on the 11th.

______

U.14 sank steamers BORTHWICK
(1097grt) and
AKELD (643grt) in 51‑44N, 03‑22E and steamer ABBOTSFORD
(1585grt) in the North Sea. A Dutch coast guard cutter
assisted in the rescue of the entire crew of BORTHWICK,
but all thirteen crew on AKELD were lost, and there were
no survivors from ABBOTSFORD.

Steamer ASHLEY (1323grt)
ran aground 1.4 miles 225° from East Goodwins Light
Vessel. Destroyer BEAGLE was dispatched to assist, but
returned to
patrol when two tugs arrived. The steamer broke up on the
tide on the 11th.

______

Steamer MAINDY HILL
(1918grt) was lost in collision with steamer ST ROSARIO
(4312grt) three miles NE of Hartlepool. ST ROSARIO was
able to proceed to the Tees.

______

Belgian fishing vessel SANTA
GODELIVIA (33grt) was
lost to unknown cause in the North
Sea. Later research attributes her loss to attack by
aircraft of KG26.

______

Convoy HG.22F departed
Gibraltar with 30 ships escorted by French destroyer
TIGRE, patrol vessel VIKINGS and British destroyer ACTIVE.
The French ships detached on the 15th and arrived at Brest
on the 16th. The convoy was escorted at sea by sloop LEITH and destroyer VANOC, and arrived at Liverpool on the 18th.

______

French battleship PROVENCE,
heavy cruiser
DUQUESNE and British aircraft carrier
HERMES
with destroyers DECOY and DEFENDER departed Dakar for a
sweep, returning on the 16th.

______

Base ship EDINBURGH CASTLE arrived at Freetown.

______

Convoy HX.26 departed
Halifax at 0800 escorted by Canadian destroyers SAGUENAY and SKEENA. Canadian destroyer
OTTAWA also escorted the convoy at the start. At
1800/11th, the convoy was turned over to battleship MALAYA,
which detached on
the 22nd. Destroyers VANSITTART, VENETIA, VIMY and WOLVERINE escorted the convoy from the 24th to 26th, when it
arrived at Liverpool.

______

Convoy SLF.23 departed
Freetown escorted by armed merchant cruiser JERVIS BAY, and on the 19th, merged
with SL.23, the combined convoy arriving at Liverpool on
the 22nd.

Monitor MARSHAL SOULT, towed
by three tugs,
was escorted by destroyers EXPRESS and ESK, from Sheerness
to Portsmouth.

______

Light cruiser GALATEA
departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth, where she arrived on the
11th.

______

Destroyer DELIGHT reported
her feed tank leaking.

______

Submarine NARWHAL departed
Scapa Flow escorted by anti-submarine trawler BUTTERMERE
and
two other trawlers of the Group for exercises in the Fair
Isle Channel.

______

Submarine THISTLE arrived at
Rosyth after patrol.

______

Submarine SUNFISH departed
Lowestoft for Harwich, where she arrived later that day.

______

Convoy OA.107 departed
Southend escorted by
destroyer VETERAN from the 11th to 12th, although she was
damaged in collision on the 11th (q.v.). The convoy
dispersed on the 13th.

______

Convoy OB.107 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers VERSATILE and WALPOLE
from the 10th to 15th, when the convoy dispersed.

______

Convoy HN.18 of three
British, eleven Norwegian,
twelve Swedish, eight Finnish and two Estonian ships
departed Bergen escorted by destroyers ENCOUNTER, ESCORT,
ELECTRA and
ECLIPSE. Submarine NARWHAL joined the convoy on the 11th.
Destroyer KIMBERLEY departed Scapa Flow at
1800/9th for patrol and then joined the westbound section.
When the convoy
split into sections, destroyers FAME, which departed Scapa
Flow on the 11th, and KIMBERLEY joined to escort the west
coast section of ten steamers. NARWHAL joined the convoy
on the 12th. Three steamers from the Orkneys joined for
passage to east coast ports. The convoy of 25 steamers
arrived at Methil on the 13th without incident, escorted
by
ENCOUNTER, ESCORT, ELECTRA and ECLIPSE. On the same day,
FAME and KIMBERLEY arrived at Scapa Flow.

______

Convoy MT.27 of nine
steamers departed Methil
escorted by the 1st Anti-submarine Group, supported by
destroyer JAVELIN, and arrived in the Tyne later that day.
JAVELIN went on ahead to
the Tyne to escort Norwegian steamer MIRA (1152grt) to
Methil, where they arrived on the 11th.

______

Convoy FN.117 departed
Southend escorted by sloop
PELICAN and destroyer VIVIEN, and arrived at the Tyne on the 12th.

______

Convoy FS.118 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloops BLACK SWAN and GRIMSBY, and arrived at
Southend on the 12th.

______

Destroyer FORESTER attacked
a contact east of South
Ronaldsay in 58‑47.8N,
02‑45.9W at 1044, which was later found to be the wreck of
sunken collier GIRALDA.

______

Destroyer FOXHOUND, after
standing by the scene of
destroyer GURKHA's submarine attack, was ordered to return
to Scapa Flow. En route, she was diverted to Rosyth,
where she arrived on the 11th.

______

Destroyer HASTY, which
departed Devonport on the
9th en route to the Clyde after refitting, attacked a
submarine contact at 0315, SW of Chicken Rock, I.O.M. in
53‑47N, 05‑16W.
The attack was unsuccessful, and the contact was later
assessed as probably a
collier wreck. HASTY arrived in the Clyde at 1100/10th.

______

Destroyer KELLY, on passage
from Lerwick, attacked a contact at 1230 off Stronsay in
59-00-07N, 2-18-09W, which was later determined to be
non-submarine. She later
arrived at Scapa Flow for temporary repairs.

______

Sloop FOLKESTONE on convoy
duty SW of
Milford Haven in 51-32N, 5-21W attacked a submarine
contact, which was determined to be non-submarine, and
rejoined the
convoy. Later at 1925/11th, FOLKESTONE, ahead of her
convoy of two
ships, attacked a submarine contact in 55-29N, 4-56.5W off
Holy Isle in the
Firth of Clyde.

Destroyer VETERAN, en route
from Portsmouth to Plymouth in convoy OA.107, was sent to
search for
steamer CLAN STUART (5760grt), which had been damaged in a
collision.
VETERAN was herself damaged in collision with tanker HORN
SHELL (8372grt), also of OA.107, ten miles 176° from Start
Point,. Her stern was damaged, maximum speed was
restricted twelve knots, and she was
taken to Devonport for repairs, completed on 17 April.

______

Anti-submarine exercises
were conducted at Scapa
Flow with all available destroyers participating under
HARDY (D.2).

______

Submarine UNITY arrived at
Blyth after patrol.

______

Submarine L.23 departed
Blyth on patrol.

______

Submarine STERLET departed
Lowestoft and arrived at Harwich.

______

Submarine TRIBUNE conducted
her full speed trial,
which was unsatisfactory, and docked at Rosyth later in
the
day.

______

Minelayer TEVIOTBANK,
destroyers ICARUS, IMPULSIVE, and minesweepers SEAGULL and
SHARPSHOOTER departed Invergordon on the
11th on minelaying mission PA 3 off Kinnaird Head in Moray
Firth. The mines were laid on the 12th.

______

GGGgggConvoy OG.21 was
formed from two convoys - (1) OA.105G, which
departed Southend on the 7th, escorted by sloop ABERDEEN,
and (2) OB.105G, which departed Liverpool on the 8th
escorted by destroyers VIMY and WINCHELSEA, with 38 ships.
OB.105G was delayed due to fog and diverted to Milford
Haven, arriving on the 9th. WINCHELSEA escorted
the convoy from Milford Haven, and destroyers BROKE and
WILD SWAN escorted the OB.G section from Isle of
Wight on the 9th.
Destroyer VIMY from convoy HG.21 joined on the 11th. The
convoy was escorted
by destroyers WINCHELSEA, VIMY and BROKE until the 11th
March. French destroyer PANTHERE and patrol vessel
MERCEDITE joined the convoy on the 10th and
destroyer WISHART on the 14th. The convoy arrived at
Gibraltar on the 17th, escorted by the two French ships
and the British destroyer.

______

Blockship JUNIATA (1139grt) departed the Tyne under the tow
of tug KROOMAN, and escorted by the 1st Anti-submarine
Group and
destroyer JUPITER. The blockship arrived at Methil on the
12th. On the 13th,
JUNIATA departed Methil escorted by anti-submarine
trawlers IMPERIALIST (520grt) and ALOUETTE (520grt) for
Scapa Flow. She was later deployed at Scapa Flow.

______

Convoy ON.19 of eight
British, fourteen Norwegian,
seven Swedish, two Danish, five Finnish, four Estonian
ships for Norway and one ship for Aberdeen departed Methil
at 1500 escorted by destroyers
COSSACK, NUBIAN, GURKHA and ILEX. The convoy was joined by
a section of 13 merchant ships from Kirkwall escorted by
destroyers FAULKNOR and FORTUNE which
departed Scapa Flow on the 12th. These merchant ships are
included in
the sailing breakdown from Methil. Destroyers FAULKNOR and
FORTUNE relieved
ILEX which returned to Scapa
Flow. On the 13th, at
1715 east of Duncansby Head in 58-37N, 1-06W, NUBIAN
attacked a
submarine contact. The destroyer then returned to the
convoy. Light cruiser
EDINBURGH
and anti-aircraft cruiser CAIRO
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 12th to provide close support
for the
convoy.

CAIRO after sailing from
Scapa Flow was forced to return with sea damage.
Antiaircraft
cruiser CALCUTTA
departed Sullom Voe on the 13th to provide
anti-aircraft support. The convoy arrived safely at Bergen
on the 14th.

______

Convoy MT.28 of twenty one
ships departed Methil,
escorted by the 19th Anti-submarine Group and covered by
destroyers JERVIS
and JAGUAR, and arrived in the Tyne the next day.

______

Convoy FN.118 of 27 ships
departed Southend escorted by destroyer VEGA, sloop STORK,
destroyer WOOLSTON, and arrived in the Tyne on the 13th.

______

Convoy FS.119 departed the
Tyne escorted by sloop LOWESTOFT,
HASTINGS and destroyer VALOROUS and covered by destroyers
JERVIS and JAGUAR. The
convoy arrived at Southend on the 13th.

______

U.28 was sighted late on the
10th in the area of
convoy HG.21 being escorted by destroyers VELOX and
VIDETTE. Destroyers BROKE, WILD SWAN and WINCHELSEA had
departed OG.21 and were ordered to
investigate the report. U.28 badly damaged Dutch steamer EULOTA
(6236grt) in 48‑35N,
08‑22W; the entire crew, 42 survivors, was rescued by WILD
SWAN.

WINCHELSEA continued on
towards the contact area while BROKE and WILD SWAN
assisted EULOTA.

BROKE sank the wreck with
gunfire. The British ships were joined by French
destroyer FRONDEUR and sloop CAPRICIEUSE from Brest.

______

U.31 was sunk at 1215
by RAF Bomber Command
aircraft at Schillig Roads, in 53-58N, 08-05E. The entire
crew of forty five
and thirteen other naval personnel were lost. German
dockyard personnel were able raise the submarine on the
19th, which
was repaired and recommissioned on 30 July 1940.

______

French battleship BRETAGNE
and heavy cruiser ALGERIE, carrying 147 tons of
gold to be deposited in the United States, departed Toulon
escorted by large destroyers VAUBAN, AIGLE, MAILLE
BREZE. The ships passed Gibraltar on the 13th. Since the
United States was still a declared neutral, the battleship
and
heavy cruiser proceeded to Halifax where the gold was
unloaded and shipped to the United States. The destroyers
were detached at sea and returned
to Casablanca on the 17th. VAUBAN and AIGLE departed
Casablanca on the 21st and joined armed merchant cruisers
EL KANTARA, EL
MANSOUR, VILLE D' ORAN and EL DJEZAIR which departed Brest
on the 20th after the
cancellation of Finland operations. Destroyers TARTU and
CHEVALIER PAUL departed Brest with the cruisers, but were
ordered to return for other duties. VAUBAN and AIGLE
passed Gibraltar with the cruisers on the 23rd and arrived
at Oran on the 24th. Destroyer MAILLE BREZE with steamer
MEDIE II departed Casablanca on the 19th and passed
Gibraltar on the 20th. They arrived at Marseilles on the
22nd with troops.

German auxiliary cruisers
ATLANTIS and ORION
departed Kiel for gunnery exercises in the North Sea prior
to departing on mercantile raiding missions.
As the Kiel Canal was still icebound, ex battleship
HESSEN, acting
as an icebreaker, cleared the Canal for their passage
to the sea. After these exercises, both returned to Kiel
for final preparations and provisioning.

______

Light cruisers CAPETOWN,
CALEDON
andCALYPSO
arrived at Alexandria after a short exercise.

______

U.30, U.46, U.47, U.49, U.51
departed Wilhelmshaven to take stations off Norway to
combat British STRATFORD operations and later
support their own WESERUBUNG operation.

Tuesday,
12 March

Light cruiser MANCHESTER
arrived at Scapa Flow after Northern Patrol.

______

Destroyers HARDY (D.2),
FIREDRAKE, HOSTILE, TARTAR
escorted heavy cruisers BERWICK,
NORFOLK
andYORK
of the
1st Cruiser Squadron on a full caliber shoot west of the
Orkneys. After the
shoot, the cruisers proceeded to Rosyth. The destroyers
INTREPID and GRIFFIN
proceeded 1931 to search for a submarine reported by
aircraft at 1900 east of
South Ronaldsay in 58‑49N, 02‑20W. Destroyers HARDY,
FIREDRAKE,
HOSTILE, ILEX, TARTAR were ordered at 2000 to join. At
2130, HARDY
and FIREDRAKE attacked a submarine contact and at 2140,
TARTAR
attacked a submarine contact east of Copinsay in 58‑53.5N,
02‑15W.All
the attacks were unsuccessful. The contact was later
assessed as probably a
wreck. HARDY, HOSTILE, TARTAR arrived at Scapa Flow after
the hunt on the 13th. FIREDRAKE
was detailed to patrol on a line south of Canntlick Head
to Sandwick Bay,
South Ronaldshay.

______

Destroyers ESKIMO, PUNJABI,
MASHONA departed Scapa Flow at 0030 for the Clyde for escort duties, and arrived late on the 12th.

______

Convoy TM.25 departed the
Tyne, escorted by the 19th Anti-submarine Group and supported by destroyer
JAVELIN.

______

Convoy FN.119 departed
Southend escorted by
destroyer JERVIS and WHITLEY, sloop EGRET, and arrived in
the Tyne on the 14th.

______

Destroyer WREN was damaged
in a collision with
steamer LACKLAN (8670grt) 16 miles 180° off the Lizard.
The stern of
the destroyer was damaged. The steamer proceeded to
Falmouth. WREN was repaired at Plymouth completing on 13
April.

______

Destroyer WOLSEY was
slightly damaged when she grounded
alongside an oiler in the Firth of Forth.

Destroyers ILEX, GRIFFIN,
INTREPID were submarine hunting in Moray Firth after a
report by a British aircraft. INTREPID
was joined on the 13th by destroyers FOXHOUND and IVANHOE.

FOXHOUND and IVANHOE had
escorted steamers DEVON CITY (4928grt) and SPANKER
(1875grt) from Methil
departing at 1200/12th and arriving at Scapa Flow on the
13th.

______

Submarines NARWHAL and
SWORDFISH departed Scapa Flow for Rosyth and Blyth, respectively. Anti-submarine whaler BUTTERMERE (560grt), escorting
the submarines in Moray
Firth
in 58-16.5N,
2-22.2W made attacks on a submarine contact. The contact
was probably a buoy
laid by minesweeper NIGER after her submarine attack on 21
February. NARWHAL arrived at Rosyth on the 13th. SWORDFISH
continued on to Blyth where she arrived later on the 13th.

______

Destroyers WOLSEY, BRAZEN
and cable ship ROYAL SCOT arrived at Rosyth after
completing the work of
repairing the cables.

______

Destroyer VENETIA, escorting
convoy OB.106, attacked a submarine contact west of Ushant in 48‑10N, 09‑14W at 1910. Sloop ROCHESTER was in company and
reported an underwater explosion at
1940.

______

Submarine PORPOISE departed
Portsmouth for Rosyth, and on the 13th, left Southend in
convoy FN.120 for the passage north.

______

Submarine URSULA departed
Blyth for patrol, and on the 14th, was ordered to the vicinity of Gotenburg
to attack German destroyers reported operating in the
area.

______

Submarines TRITON, TRUANT
and SEAL departed Rosyth on
patrol.

______

Lt P.G. Philcox RNVR and
Able Seaman D.
Lewis were killed when their Proctor of 758 Squadron
crashed near Worthy
Down.

______

Steamers
MACGREGOR LAIRD (4015grt) and LOMBARDY (3379grt) arrived at the Clyde from the
south, leaving there on the 16th
to return to Newport.

______

French fishing vessel ROSE
EFFEUILEE (35grt) was
lost on a mine laid by German minelaying Ship 11 in the
North
Sea in 51.25N, 01.45E;
the entire crew was
rescued.

______

A peace treaty between the
USSR and Finland was announced and signed on the 13th.
British
operation STRATFORD,
and Plan R 3, the
proposed landing of troops at Narvik and Trondheim on the
20th to be followed shortly by landings at Stavanger and
Bergen to relieve Finnish troops, was cancelled. The
ships of the operation were released on the 15th. Heavy
cruisers of the 1st
Cruiser Squadron returned to Northern Patrol duties. Light
cruisers GALATEA
and AURORA
with destroyers of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla departed the
Clyde to return to Scapa
Flow.

______

Convoy HG.22 of thirty nine
ships departed Gibraltar escorted by destroyers WATCHMAN
and VORTIGERN from
12 to 19 March. WATCHMAN and VORTIGERN were detached to
Devonport
and Portsmouth, respectively, for leave. Destroyers
VANQUISHER,
WITCH, ACASTA escorted the convoy in Home Waters from 19
to 21 March. The
convoy arrived at Liverpool on the 22nd.

______

Destroyer WRESTLER arrived
at Gibraltar after repairs at Malta.

______

French large destroyers
MILAN and ÉPERVIER collided during preparations for the
Finland operations. MILAN was repaired at Cherbourg
completing on 4 April and ÉPERVIER at Brest, completing on
12 April.

Wednesday,
13 March

Light cruisers ARETHUSA
and PENELOPE
departed Rosyth for Scapa Flow, and arrived on the 14th.

______

Light cruisers GALATEA
and AURORA
departed Rosyth
for the Clyde, and arrived on the 14th.

Destroyer KEITH was damaged
in a grounding near
South West Goodwin Buoy. Damage was limited to her asdic
dome, and she
was taken to Chatham on the 15th for repairs completed on
the 20th.

______

Destroyers HOSTILE and
TARTAR departed Scapa Flow for the Clyde, and arrived at
1630/14th.

______

Destroyer SOMALI departed
the Tees after refitting at Middlesborough for Scapa Flow to conduct a high
speed trial en route. She arrived in the Clyde at
1400/14th being diverted en route.

______

Destroyer JAGUAR arrived at
Dundee.

______

Due to damage to the
anti-submarine nets at Scapa Flow, destroyer FIREDRAKE was
detached from a U-boat
search and began anti-submarine patrol at daylight in the
approaches to Hoxa
Sound. At 2000, destroyer IMOGEN relieved FIREDRAKE on
this patrol station. At 0800/14th, destroyer FOXHOUND
relieved IMOGEN. The work on Hoxa Boom was completed at
1900/14th and
FOXHOUND returned to Scapa Flow.

______

Destroyers ESKIMO (escort
SO), PUNJABI, MASHONA
departed the Clyde with convoy NS 1 for Plan R.3. At
0233/15th, the
convoy was ordered back to the Clyde with ESKIMO and PUNJABI,
while MASHONA continued to Scapa Flow escorting tanker WAR
BHARATA.

______

Destroyer HUNTER arrived in
the Clyde at 1935 on completion of her refitting at Falmouth.

Submarine SPEARFISH departed
Newcastle and conducted diving trials off Blyth, escorted by a trawler, before arriving at Blyth.

______

Submarine TRIBUNE undocked
at Rosyth.

______

Patrol sloop GUILLEMOT was
damaged in a collision
with an unknown ship off Southwold, and patrol sloop
WIDGEON stood by. She
was repaired at Great Yarmouth from 18 March to 19 April.

______

Convoy OA.109 departed
Southend escorted by
destroyer WHITEHALL. The convoy was joined on the 14th by
destroyers
ANTELOPE and ACASTA, with ANTELOPE being relieved on the
15th by destroyer VANESSA. The convoy was dispersed on the
16th with ACASTA and
VANESSA in the escort at that time.

______

Convoy OB.109 departed
Liverpool escorted by destroyers MACKAY and VOLUNTEER from
13 to 16 March, when they were detached to convoy HX.25.

______

Convoy MT.29 of six ships
departed Methil at 0800
escorted by the trawlers of the 1st Anti-submarine Group,
sloop FLEETWOOD and
destroyer VIMIERA. The convoy arrived later in the day.

______

Convoy FN.120 departed
Southend escorted by sloops
BLACK SWAN and GRIMSBY. The convoy included submarine
PORPOISE on passage
to Rosyth. PORPOISE was detached at
0200/15th and arrived on the 16th. The convoy arrived in
the Tyne on the 15th.

______

Convoy FS.120 of 29 ships
and an
additional five ships from Middlesborough and five from
the Humber departed the Tyne escorted by
sloops LONDONDERRY,
FLEETWOOD and
destroyer VIMIERA. The convoy
arrived at Southend on the 15th.

______

Convoy SA.33 of two steamers
departed Southampton, escorted by sloops FOXGLOVE and
ROSEMARY, and arrived at Brest on the 15th.

______

Convoy AXF 2 of one steamer
arrived at St Malo.

______

U.44 was lost on a
mine in 54-14N, 05-06E in a
minefield laid by destroyers EXPRESS, ESK, ICARUS and
IMPULSIVE on the 3rd. Her entire crew of forty seven men
was lost.

______

U.30 on patrol encountered a
British submarine.

______

German merchant ship LA CORUNA
(7359grt), which had departed Rio de Janiero on 3
February, was intercepted east of Iceland in 63‑00N,
10‑20W by armed merchant cruiser MALOJA on Northern
Patrol. The German steamer, disguised as Japanese steamer
TAKI MARU, set herself afire when she was unable to
escape. The British ship
rescued the 18 officers and 50 ratings of the German crew.

______

Convoy HX.27 departed
Halifax at 0700 escorted by Canadian destroyers
RESTIGOUCHE and ST
LAURENT. At 1500/13th, RESTIGOUCHE was ordered by armed
merchant cruiser ASCANIA to assist French submarine SIDI
FERRUCH which was having trouble
getting through the ice area. At 1340/14th, the convoy was
turned over to the
ocean escort armed merchant cruiser ASCANIA, which was
detached on the 25th.
Destroyers AMAZON, VANOC, VERSATILE and WINDSOR escorted
the convoy from 25 to
28 March, when it arrived at Liverpool.

______

Steamer ROSSINGTON COURT
(6922grt) and tanker ATHELVIKING (8779grt) of
convoy HX.26 collided six hundred miles east of Halifax.
The tanker had to return to Halifax.

______

German steamer ESCHERSHEIM
(3303grt) was lost near Loenstrup and Hirtshals off
the coast of Jutland after hitting a submerged wreck. Flooding became uncontrollable, and
she was run aground
in 57-36N, 09-57E to prevent sinking.

______

Armed merchant cruiser
RANPURA, cable ship MIRROR
and A.S.I.S. PHILOMEL departed Gibraltar,
escorted by destroyers ACTIVE and WRESTLER until dark on
the 15th. The armed
merchant cruiser and A.S.I.S. ship headed for Freetown,
via Dakar and the cable ship for St Vincent, Cape Verde
Island, for cable repair. ACTIVE arrived back
at Gibraltar on the 16th after escorting the cable ship,
and WRESTLER arrived back at Gibraltar on the
17th after escorting the Freetown
ships.

Destroyer KELLY departed
Scapa Flow at 0400 for Sheerness to repair her collision
damage of 9 March at Blackwall.

______

Destroyers KASHMIR and FORESIGHT departed the Clyde for Scapa Flow.

______

Destroyer INTREPID arrived
at Invergordon from
patrol.

______

Destroyer IVANHOE departed
Scapa Flow at 0715 for Moray Firth Patrol.

______

Minelayer TEVIOTBANK and
destroyers ICARUS and
IMPULSIVE arrived at the Humber to load mines.

______

Submarines STERLET and
SNAPPER departed Harwich on
patrol.

______

Submarine SEAWOLF arrived at
Harwich from patrol.

______

Polish submarine WILK was
undocked at Dundee.

______

Convoy OG.22F was formed
from two convoys - (1) OA.108G,
which departed Southend on the 11th escorted by destroyer
WITCH, and (2) OB.108G,
which departed Liverpool on the 11th, escorted by sloops
BIDEFORD and
FOWEY, of thirty ships. BIDEFORD joined the convoy on the
12th and FOWEY on the 13th. Destroyer WRESTLER joined on
the 19th. Both
sloops and the destroyer travelled with the convoy to
Gibraltar where it arrived on the 19th. The sloops were
temporarily assigned to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla to
replace sloops SCARBOROUGH and WELLINGTON.

______

Convoy MT.30 of twenty three
ships departed Methil
escorted by the 3rd Anti-submarine Group, sloop PELICAN,
destroyers VIVIEN
and JAVELIN. The convoy arrived in the Tyne later in the day.

______

Convoy FS.121 departed the
Tyne, escorted by sloop PELICAN and destroyer VIVIEN, and arrived
at Southend on the 16th.

______

Destroyer JANUS and the 1st
Anti-submarine Group
escorted convoy TM.26 from the Tyne.

______

After a steamer sighted a
periscope one mile
southwest of Elie Ness, escort vessel WHITLEY and sloop
EGRET were dispatched
to investigate. They were joined by destroyer BRAZEN,
escort vessels VEGA, WOOLSTON, sloop STORK, and the 19th
Anti-submarine Group. WHITLEY and
STORK made attacks but further investigation showed this
contact to be
non submarine.

______

Convoy HN.19 of three
British, sixteen Norwegian,
seven Swedish, four Finnish and five Estonian ships
departed Bergen escorted by destroyers COSSACK, NUBIAN,
GURKHA,
FAULKNOR and FORTUNE. The convoy was covered by light
cruiser EDINBURGH.
At
0824/16th, EDINBURGH made a submarine contact in 59-07N,
00-57W, southeast of Fair
Isle, and she
and COSSACK attacked the contact. At 1330/16th, COSSACK
attacked a contact east of Duncansby Head in 58-36N,
1-35W.This contact had
been earlier attacked by aircraft. At 2330, EDINBURGH made
an
attack off Tod Head in 56-54N, 2-13W. When the convoy
split into two sections, FAULKNOR and FORTUNE escorted the
west coast section of
15 ships to Cape Wrath where the convoy was dispersed. The
destroyers
arrived at Scapa Flow on the 17th at 0700. Destroyers
FAULKNOR and
FORESTER anchored in Longhope pending the clearance of
Gutter Sound. The
convoy of 20 ships arrived at Methil without incident on
the 17th. COSSACK, NUBIAN and GURKHA arrived at Rosyth at
1700/17th.

An unsuccessful operation
was mounted by German
submarines to hunt down British and French submarines in
the North Sea. Submarines deployed were U.7, U.9, U.19,
U.20,
U.23, U.24, U.56, U.57, U.59.

U.1, U.2, U.3, U.4 were
positioned off southern
Norway. On the 16th, U.1 departed Kiel for operations
south of Lindesnes. On the 16th, U.2 departed Kiel for
operations off Lister. On the 18th, U.3
departed Wilhelmshaven to operate in the North Sea against
British submarines. On the 18th, U.4 departed
Wilhelmshaven to operate in the Skagerrak.

On the 20th, U.22 departed
Wilhelmshaven to operate off Pentland Firth. On the 20th,
U.21 and U.22 were ordered to patrol
south of Lindesnes. On the 21st, U.21 departed
Wilhelmshaven to operate off Pentland Firth.

On the 22nd, U.1 was moved
to a position outside
the three mile limit off Egeroy. On the 22nd, U.2 sighted
what was identified
as either a heavy cruiser or an aircraft carrier with five
destroyers in
57-46N, 07-18E. The submarine was unable to gain a firing
position. On the
23rd, U.3 and 4 were ordered to area of Lindesnes and
Revingen, respectively, to attack warships and
transports. On the 27th, U.4 was moved to area of
Lindesnes. U.1, U.2, U.3, U.4 returned to Wilhelmshaven on
the 29th.

______

Minesweepers PANGBOURNE,
ALBURY, and ROSS arrived at Gibraltar from Malta.

______

Aircraft carrier EAGLE
in the Bay of Bengal near the Nicobar Islands
was damaged at 0730 when a 250 pound bomb exploded in the
bomb room in an
operational mishap. One officer, Gunner R.R. Keech, MVO
and twelve ratings were
killed. Five crew were wounded, one dying of wounds at
Singapore. EAGLE proceeded to Singapore for repairs and
completed these and a refit on
4 May. She left Singapore on 9 May for the Mediterranean.